Tim Ross
There’s no doubt that social media marketing (or simply SMM) is on the rise nowadays. Frankly speaking, it’s not surprising. Free social media graphics and convenient social media management tools make SMM a cost-effective way to grow a business. That’s why plenty of social media marketing images appear daily on various social media platforms.
Do you use social media marketing images for promoting your brand? If not, it’s definitely high time to start. They are really powerful means to take your business to the next level.
The Power of Social Media Marketing Images
It goes without saying that by nature humans are very visual beings. According to Trend Reports, up to 85 percent of people describe themselves as visual learners. This means that they acquire information easier by viewing an image than reading a text. As a result, we have the following statistics on using images on social media platforms:
- Facebook posts with images see 2.3 more engagement than those without images (BuzzSumo);
- Tweets with images earn up to 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites, and 150% more retweets (Buffer);
- Articles with an image once every 75-100 words receive twice more social media shares than those with fewer images (BuzzSumo);
- 74% of social media marketers use visual assets in their social media marketing (Social Media Examiner);
- 37% of marketers say that visual marketing is the most important form of content for their business (Social Media Examiner).
As you see, social media marketing images are really effective. Firstly, they draw attention to your content. Secondly, they help viewers process, understand, and retain information more quickly. Thirdly, they increase the engagement and the number of shares.
However, not all social media marketing images are capable of doing a great job. That’s why we decided to give you several hints on enhancing your social media content. Indubitably, they will let you take the advantage of social media marketing images in full.
How to Make the Most of Social Media Marketing Images
Whether you rely on social media influencer marketing or prefer promoting your brand yourself, proper images are a must. Surely, just throwing any image into your content won’t help. So, if you want to achieve great results, all your social media marketing images should be carefully thought-out. Here are a few things to focus on.
Clearly Define Your Purpose
To begin with, any image you include into your social media content should have a definite purpose. Therefore, before choosing an image, think twice about your aim. Ask yourself what task this image should accomplish.
All in all, there are four main goals businesses set while using social media marketing images:
- Educative. Such social media marketing images share information and help build authority.
- Provocative. This type of social media images surprises and prompts an action.
- Inspiring. These social media marketing images evoke emotions, encourage, and cheer up.
- Entertaining. Such images evoke smiles and spread goodwill.
After you decide what message you want to convey, it will be much easier to choose an appropriate image.
Humanize Your Social Media Marketing Images
It’s a common fact that people prefer to deal with people, not brands. Consequently, it’s a good thing to include the images of real people into your social media content. Whatever product or service you’re promoting such images will be highly useful. Firstly, they will help you arouse the viewers’ interest. Secondly, they will considerably increase the level of your viewers’ trust. Here are several ideas of images to include in the social media content.
First and foremost, introduce your staff. People like seeing those who’re working for their benefit. It’s up to you whether to post photos in official suits or the ones that show your employees’ hobbies. In any case, such images will serve as effective attention grabbers.
Next, post behind the scenes images. Unquestionably, the images of the manufacturing process can evoke and deepen viewers’ interest.
Then, employ images of the customers using your products or services instead of telling about them. For instance, if you’re selling bikes, don’t post a photo from the salon. Take a shot of someone riding it happily outside.
Be Diverse
One and the same types of posts day in, day out will hardly succeed in keeping your followers’ attention. Thus, you have to make your social media marketing images vary. In case you don’t know what images to post, here are a few hints.
Announcements of upcoming events. Whether you’re going to organize a sale or a webinar, images are a great way to tell about it. Undoubtedly, image-based posts are more eye-catching than the text-based ones. Therefore, there’s a higher chance that your followers won’t pass by the event.
Facts and statistics. Perhaps, there’s no better way to represent statistics than images. There’s no doubt that images make numbers significantly easier to comprehend.
Your customers’ testimonials. Each time you post testimonials, insert the photo of the person you’re quoting. These images will make their statements more trustworthy.
Quick how-tos. Honestly, product instructions aren’t always easy to read. However, a number of images will help you transfer a boring text into an appealing how-to guide.
Carefully Choose Stock Social Media Marketing Images
Of course, our budget isn’t always enough to hire a pro every time we need a photo. That’s why we go for stock images. Choosing a stock image, there are some things to keep in mind.
Firstly, make sure that the image completely fits your brand and the purpose of your message. Secondly, ensure that your competitors haven’t used it already. Thirdly, consider the quality of the image. Low-quality images are more likely to disappoint than engage your audience. Finally, pay attention to the license. Some images give you no right to use them for commercial purposes.
Mind the Size
Last but not the least, never forget that the size of your social media marketing images matters. It’s not a secret that every social media platform has its own requirements as for the dimensions of images. So, before posting an image, study the guidelines the platform offers. Then double-check the height and width of your image so that it doesn’t appear cropped on your page.
To sum up, it’s not such a daunting task to enhance your social media content. Take time to take care of your social media marketing images. Believe, the result will be worth the effort you spend. Do you need some more hints on effective SMM? Then don’t hesitate to study our Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing.
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